At least 10 more BBC employees have been accused of sexual misconduct over the past few days, it was revealed today.

The members of staff have come under investigation following
fresh allegations lodged with the corporation. The names were
forwarded to the BBC’s investigations unit and are in addition to
earlier complaints made against 29 staff.

A BBC spokeswoman said “numbers will fluctuate both up and down
as new allegations are made and investigated” but it is understood
that most of the complaints are still being looked into.

The details came as it emerged that former BBC DJ Dave Lee
Travis, who has a weekend show on Magic AM, has been taken off air
after his arrest yesterday. Travis, 67, was held for 14 hours
before being bailed over allegations of sexual assault dating back
to the late Sixties.

The former Top of the Pops host was arrested by detectives
investigating abuse claims against Jimmy Savile, who died last
year. Magic AM said it had “decided to take him off air with
immediate effect” adding “we believe it would be inappropriate for
him to broadcast until they (the matters) are resolved.”

Meanwhile, a BBC insider today told how Newsnight was operating
without an investigations unit at the time of the programme that
led to Lord McAlpine being wrongly accused of child abuse.

Its investigations producer Meirion Jones had left after an ITV
documentary exposed Savile as a paedophile on October 3 — an
inquiry that Mr Meirion investigated in December last year but
which his bosses dropped.

It is understood he had not been replaced by the time the
November 2 Newsnight programme on Lord McAlpine was broadcast.